Saturday, November 15, 2014

Reel Asian 2014: Brahmin Bulls

Sid Sharma (Sendhil Ramamurthy) is a man at the crossroads of his life, as his marriage falls apart and his career as an architect doesn’t go as planned. One day, Sid is visited by his estranged father Ashok (Roshan Seth), who has traveled from Boston to Los Angeles for a conference, which happens to have Ashok’s former flame Helen West (Mary Steenburgen) as a speaker. Over the course of the next few days, Sid and Ashok slowly begin to mend their differences.

Brahmin Bulls is a drama about a man at the end of his rope, who begins to find himself again, with the help of a rejuvenated relationship with his father. Best known for his work on the TV series’ Heroes and Covert Affairs, Sendhil Ramamurthy leads the film as a man, who is still coping with the end of his marriage, as well as the fact that he is seemingly held back at his architecture job. Sid’s only method of release is playing tennis with his friend Alex (Justin Bartha), which is a sport Sid quite excelled at when he was younger. Ashok’s arrival shakes things up for Sid, who slowly begins to escape his rut.

It is hard to tell what exactly the title of Brahmin Bulls has to do with the plot, since it either literally refers to a breed of cattle from India or metaphorically refers to extreme masculinity. Perhaps it is a title that just sounded cool. There isn’t really that much in Brahmin Bulls that hasn’t already been seen in countless father/son dramas. However, Sendhil Ramamurthy and Roshan Seth have a quite good rapport with each other and their interactions is what makes the film. Altogether, Brahmin Bulls is a pretty decent drama about a man reconnecting with his estranged father.

About Sean Kelly -

Sean Patrick Kelly is a self-described über-geek, who has been an avid film lover for all his life. He graduated from York University in 2010 with an honours B.A. in Cinema and Media Studies and he likes to believe he knows what he’s talking about when he writes about film (despite occasionally going on pointless rants).